"I
did not wish to have my life saved at the point of foreign bayonets, in
full view of my own people." King Faruwq
The
advancing troops gave no sign of attacking. Their leading officers were
signaling reassuringly, and one of my ADCs said, "These may
be the reinforcements from Cairo, sir."
I rather
hoped so, too. It was difficult to grasp the idea that a handful
of revolutionaries had managed to seize the entire Egyptian Army,
and it is also very difficult to give an order to fire upon one's own uniform.
I stood
on the balcony and hesitated, and in that hesitation which I think was
pardonable, I made a nearly fatal mistake, for I permitted the revolutionaries
to walk right through the outer ring of our defenses, and they came to
within 150 meters of the balcony where we stood. They were still
waving amiably.
Without
warning, two officers who were advancing side by side, opened fire from
the hip with Bren guns.
You
do not see a Bren gun's flame unless the muzzle is pointing straight at
you. I saw that flame. I grabbed Narriyman
by the hair and pulled her to the balcony floor. All the stonework
around and behind us seemed to boil and crumble. One of my
ADCs
gave a brief cry and rolled over with blood running from him. I lay
with Narriyman beside me, and I had a clear
and terrible vision of my three little daughters’ faces, and the shattered
window where an instant before, they had been smiling and waving
me "Good morning."
We
scrambled back to cover. Narriyman was a little
pale. Her brown hair was almost white with dust from the bullet-broken
wall, but she smiled at me steadily and said in a quiet voice, "What
do you wish me to do, cheri?"
"Go
and see if the children are all right," I said, "and then stay with
the baby. Keep the girls away from the windows."
I did not add " . . . if they are still alive." Mercifully,
they were, for when the revolutionaries opened fire, my three little
girls had ducked as quickly as hares. Firiyal and Fawziyah
shielded
little Fadiyah between them as they lay on the bedroom floor
while the firing went on. They did not cry nor, show any signs of fear.
They did not cry until the battle was finished, and then it was only because
they discovered the bodies of their pet dogs, slain by the Naguibists
in the stables, and Firiyal's beloved white Arab pony, that
I think everybody in Egypt knew belonged to her, was dead,
too. Some Naguibist had thoughtfully thrust a bayonet through its
eyes.
They
had retreated to the stables and palace outhouses as soon as we started
to return their fire. My Sudanese, with white teeth flashing in sheer
joy, were snuggled behind their guns, squirting careful bursts at the
revolutionaries. I never expect to see better troops than these Sudanese.
I put my own gun-sights upon one of the Naguibists (and I hold the Swiss
Master Marksman's International Certificate, which is not held by many
men in the world). But I could not bring myself to kill him.
I think I got three of them in the legs, and one machine-gunner in
the right shoulder. But it was sickening work, and I took no pleasure
in it. The besiegers had cut our phone lines at the Alexandria
central
exchange. They did not know (nor did the British when they surrounded my
palace in 1942) that I have always kept two secret phone lines
for just such emergencies.
I got
onto my Prime Minister `Aliy Mahir, and told him what was
happening. He was very shocked and anxious. The Naguibists had told him
nothing of their intentions to attack the palace. "I will come
immediately," he said. I told him, "I think it is more
important that you should see something is done immediately, and then if
you want to come down here, you can-- if you can get through."
I also telephoned the United States Ambassador, Mr.
Caffery, and gave him quickly an idea of what was going on. I
asked that he should use all his influence to save the life of my
son, and of my family if possible.
He
told me that he would raise heaven and earth to do it. "But It may
take a little time," he said. "You will have to fight
for time."
I also
considered phoning the British, but I decided not to do so. It was
true that they had troops near enough to interfere almost immediately,
and my good friend Sir William Slim had always promised me
that I could depend upon his assistance if I was in personal trouble
and danger. But I decided, in the few moments that I had to think,
that if diplomatic intervention would work the trick, then the United
States Embassy was the one I would rely upon; whereas,if it were
not, I did not wish to have my life saved at the point of foreign bayonets,
in full view of my own people,
I went
back along the palace corridors. Wounded men were being brought in, sweating
and teeth bared with pain.
(Story continues
next month)
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